An Essay on Brewing, with a View of establishing The Principles of the Art · Caxton Club Exhibits

An Essay on Brewing, with a View of establishing The Principles of the Art published in 1758 is the first text to recommend the use of the thermometer in a brewery. The author, Michael Combrune, was an ale brewer in the small village of Hempstead just north of London. This work is the first practical … Read more

Sake Is Booming in America

Sake Is Booming in America Eric Asimov writes about sake in The New York Times, opening with three paragraphs that will sound familiar to anyone conversant with the history of American craft beer: When Shinobu Kato first tried sake as a young man in Tokyo, it tasted harsh and sharp to him. He hated it. … Read more

chicago-reader:

In the introduction to Locally Brewed: Portraits of Craft Brewing from America’s Heartland, Anna Blessing writes, “In part this is a book about beer, but mostly it is a book about people: the craftspeople and artisans who brew the beer.” And—spoiler alert—that’s exactly what it is. Blessing has deftly pinpointed what’s most interesting about each brewer’s story and spends several pages, illustrated with photos of the brewers, beers, and breweries (taken by Blessing herself), telling it.

Julia Thiel reviews a new book about midwestern craft brewers.

A lot of my beers sound like food just because that’s my background, but they can be enjoyed on their own, and usually are. I just happen to think about food when I think about beer. For me, beer is food. We use our hands and take raw ingredients and create something that people consume. The only difference is, brewers intoxicate people.